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"We believe that two years is a reasonable time for consumers to decide whether they wish to make a complaint."

However, James Walker, founder of consumer complaints service Resolver.co.uk , warned millions of people are yet to make their claims - with many unaware they're even owed money.

"For over a decade, complaints about the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) have dominated the headlines.

"But despite an estimated 45 million policies sold and £25.5billion paid in compensation it’s likely that millions of people may still be unaware they have a valid complaint about a mis-sold PPI policy."

Consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com revealed it has had more than 6.5 million downloads of its PPI templates letters since 2011 - these have resulted in up to £5billion being paid back to victims.

Campaigner Martin Lewis said: " PPI has been the biggest financial scam of all time – over £20billion pounds repaid so far, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it hit £30billion before it ends. Yet it wasn’t done by dodgy blokes in back alleys, but by bankers in pin stripes."

The MoneySavingExpert founder also highlighted that over half of rejected cases in the past 12 months have been overturned by the independent Ombudsman - proving there is a case for customers to act on.

"Until we can trust banks to deal with complaints fairly in the first instance, this move to protect their balance sheets should not happen. It is putting the protection of the financial industry ahead of consumers," Lewis added.

What should consumers do?

Figures show millions of pounds have been lost to clever claims management firms (Image: Getty)

The FCA says people who are unhappy about PPI should continue to complain to the firms concerned and to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they are not satisfied with the response.

You can also raise a case with the ombudsman if you believe it has been wrongly rejected.

Consumers have until 29 August 2019 at the latest to make their complaint, but some consumers, including those who have previously been told by their firm that they may have been mis-sold, may run out of time sooner - so act now.

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Avoid claims management firms at all costs

The FCA also adds that making a complaint is free to consumers and most people should not need to use a claims management company to assist them.

New figures released today by uSwitch reveal as many as six million consumers have been ripped off by claims management sharks - companies who make complaints on behalf of consumers for a fee - because banks make it too complicated to complain directly.

The Ombudsman Service also encourages people to get in touch with it if they are not sure which company is involved. The service can help direct your complaint to the right person at the company, so that they can look into it first of all.

I'm not sure if I was mis-sold - how can I find out?

If this is the case, you may be able to find out through a credit check, providing it's within the past four to six years.

These are free through Clearscore or Noddle . You can also get in touch with a credit report agency such as Experian or Equifax - although this will cost you £1.

Your credit report will detail any loan agreement and terms you've had in the past six years.

You can then speak to the lender, but make sure the terms are the correct ones for the date you took out the credit, because they can change over time.

With mis-selling dating back to the late 1980s, it is possible that you won't be able to trace it on your credit file. In this instance, it is recommended that you get in touch with your bank/banks at the time to find out.

New grounds for compensation

Some customers may be entitled to even more money back due to a new commission ruling (Image: Getty)

Earlier this year the FCA also proposed plans to revise how firms should handle complaints.

This was in light of the Supreme Court judgment in legal case Plevin v Paragon Personal Finance Ltd (Plevin).

The Plevin case looked at the relationship between PPI premiums and commission, and whether or not consumers were misled simply by brokers failing to disclose these levels as part of selling PPI.

It found that failure to disclose to a client a large commission payment on a single premium Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policy, made the relationship between lender and borrower unfair.

The Plevin decision means that consumers may now have new grounds to complain about PPI regarding the amount of money that the providers received for the sale if the failure to disclose that commission made the relationship unfair.

What this means to you

If you had PPI and the commission was over 50% and that wasn’t explained to you, then you are due back any commission above that plus interest.

The FCA will also require all firms to write to previously rejected complainants - an estimated 1.2 million who's PPI has been rejected - and are eligible to complain in light of Plevin in order to explain the new basis for complaining to them.